Raiders Play the Old Shell Game

He was given the job in a time of turmoil, asked to end a nation’s long national nightmare. He turned out to be a decent guy with old fashioned values who was, frankly, in a little over his head.

Chronicle photo by Darryl Bush

It was a wonderful run Al, and now it is time to step away.

Admired by his peers and respected by his co-workers, he was a little out of step with the younger demographic, who saw him as out of touch and joked that maybe he had played too many football games without a helmet.

His tenure wasn’t long, and although he left with his dignity intact, he wasn’t able to muster the popular support to hold the job longer. Some were sorry when he left, but nearly everyone agreed it was time.

No, we’re not talking about former President Gerald Ford, but Raider coach Art Shell.

Let’s be honest, this was never, ever going to work. It was a lovely sentiment, a return to the days of Raider glory, but it was cloaked in silver and black gloom from the start. They said Shell was old school but what they really meant was that he was humming along with the Temptations in a world gone hip-hop.

The moment Jerry Porter and Shell got into it in Shell’s office (with the assistant principal of the old school, Fred Biletnikoff) you knew there was going to be trouble. Is Porter a pain in the butt? Probably. He also caught 70-some passes last year. Remember, this is a franchise that prides itself on getting the most out of the NFL’s oddballs and malcontents.

Worse yet, Shell then went with the tough love approach. Porter could just sit on the bench until he . . . did something. Apologized? Wrote a poem to the Greatness of the Raiders? Ran laps at practice?

Whatever it was, Porter didn’t do it. The result was a long, simmering standoff that not only made Shell look intransigent, but left the other players on the team questioning his judgment. When the word went out this week that owner Al Davis was talking to players about Shell’s future, you knew it wasn’t going to be good news for him.

However, let’s just make this point. Jon Gruden took the Raiders to the verge of the Super Bowl (thanks to reader Michael for the correction) — and he couldn’t wait to get out of town. Bill Callahan, who replaced Gruden and took the team to the Super Bowl, was fired by the Raiders, went to Nebraska as head coach and is doing very nicely. Norv Turner was fired by the Raiders, went to the 49ers, and is largely credited with the turnaround of quarterback Alex Smith.

Honestly, it doesn’t look like the coaching is the problem. All of those guys clearly have some skills in that area.

And I don’t think anyone, especially the Raider Nation, needs to be told what the problem is. Al Davis, the heart and soul of the team forever, needs to step away.

And let’s just say, as someone who covered the Raiders back in the 80s, and dealt with Davis on a regular basis, this is not coming from an Al Davis hater. We’ve always had a good relationship (except for the time he grabbed my necktie in the locker room and told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. But that was a blip on the screen.)

Overall, I think he’s been smart, perceptive and ahead of the game. And by the way, it may be lost right now, but Davis has done more to advance the cause of black players in the NFL than any owner. He was the first to start an all-black defensive backfield when other teams were still keeping a token white player back there. And, with Art Shell back in 1989, he became the first owner to hire a black coach.

So, although fans in other cities may hate Al, there’s no doubt that he’s got a list of accomplishments that will always make him one of the influential figures in the history of the NFL.

However, at this point, that’s what it is — histor

y. Davis is at the age, and his health is such, that he needs to release the reins and let a bright young guy take over.

Unfortunately, he has not groomed any bright young guys. Or women for that matter. Amy Trask, the general manager, would be the best bet at this point, but while she can run the nuts and bolts of the franchise, she’s not going to watch film of the scouting combine and pick out the best first round choice for the team. Nor does she want to be.

But someone has to be that person. And they can’t make their choices and then have them overruled by Al because a player reminds him of someone who used to be a Raider.

Nor can Al be telling his head coach who he can hire for his staff, nor what plays he ought to be running, nor what he should say to the media. Al should be the figurehead of the organization, the guy who got the Raiders this far and is now going pass the torch and wax philosophical about the grand old days of the franchise.

In other words, Al Davis should step away. It is that simple. He’s got to get his hands out of every decision and prepare for the future of the franchise. It is the only way this is going to work.